‘Spider’ man, agent team up

Raimi, Donen partnering for shingle

Sam Raimi and his CAA agent, Josh Donen, are setting up a production company at the home of “Spider-Man,” Sony Pictures.

Donen, who was named co-head of CAA’s motion picture department in 2002, will be Raimi’s producing partner. Raimi is developing “Spider-Man 3″ for a 2007 release, continuing a franchise that has earned Sony $1.6 billion to date.

Raimi will maintain Ghost House Pictures, his joint venture with Senator Intl. that’s devoted to horror pics in all budget ranges. The company recently produced Columbia Pictures’ hit “The Grudge.”

Donen plans to exit CAA in a matter of weeks. Among the clients with whom he worked closely are David Fincher, Mark Romanek, Red Wagon Prods. partners Lucy Fisher and Doug Wick, John Dahl, Tom Tykwer and Andrew Niccol.

Before Donen joined CAA in 1998, he was a producer on Raimi’s “The Quick and the Dead” as well as “The Great White Hype” and exec producer on Steven Soderbergh’s “The Underneath.”

Donen started as a talent agent at the William Morris Agency, but left to work as a production exec at ABC Motion Pictures and later Universal Pictures, where he was an exec VP. He returned to WMA in 1996 to head the motion picture directors department, where he remained until joining CAA.

Donen is the son of helmer Stanley Donen. “Coming from a show business family and as a former studio executive and producer, Josh had a wealth of experience from a lot of different perspectives,” said CAA managing partner David O’Connor. “He’s a very smart, aggressive and film-friendly agent, and all of these attributes will serve him well as a producer.”

Sony declined comment on Raimi’s production deal, saying details remained to be worked out.

In addition to the “Spider-Man” franchise, Raimi was an executive producer on “The Grudge,” which was produced by Ghost House and released by Columbia. His other credits include “For the Love of the Game,” “A Simple Plan” and the “Evil Dead” franchise.